Semi Renky
}} The Semi Renky and New Semi Renky are Japanese 4.5×6 cameras made by Rengō Kōki and distributed by Fuku Bōeki from 1939 to about 1943. The Semi Renky Description The Semi Renky (セミレンキー) is a blatant copy of the Semi Olympic. The body is made of some sort of plastic, called mikaton (ミカトン). , p.343, item 321. There is a metal telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The base of the tube is surrounded by a massive ring engraved RengoKoki at the top and Tokyo at the bottom. On the body's front left, there is a metal plate marked SEMI RENKY in capital letters (looking the same as the plate marked The Olympic Camera Works on the Olympic cameras). A tubular optical finder is mounted in the middle of the top plate, with an accessory shoe on the right and an advance knob on the left — as seen by the photographers. There are two uncovered red windows at the bottom of the back to control the film advance. The back opens to the right, together with the back halves of the top and bottom plates. It is retained by a sliding bar on the right, with an arrow pointing towards the top. The shutter is everset and has T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25 speeds. The lens is a 75mm f/4.5 and the aperture scale is at the bottom of the shutter plate. Advertisements and other documents The Semi Renky was advertised in the November 1939 issue of , Advertisement reproduced in , p.104. costing with a Renko 75/4.5 lens. Another advertisement dated December 1939 shows the same features and a similar picture. Advertisement on p.18 of , December 15, 1939, reproduced on p.52 of Hyaku-gō goto jūkai no kiroku. The list of set prices compiled in late 1940 and published in January 1941 mentions the Semi Renky for ¥43. , type 3, section 1. The Semi Renky was advertised together with the New Semi Renky in the March 1941 issue of , Advertisement reproduced in , p.104. at the lower price of . The advertisement still gives Renko as the lens name and it says that the shutter was made by RKS (maybe for Rengō Kōki Seisakusho). The Semi Renky was still in the official price list dated November 1941. , type 3, section 1. Variations The surviving examples have variations in the shutter plate markings and in the lens name. These are summarized in the following table: The New Semi Renky Description The New Semi Renky (ニューセミレンキー) has a new metal body, The says that the camera has a bakelite body but the pictures observed show a metal body. very similar in shape to the previous model. The top and bottom plates are chrome plated and the rest is leather covered. The top plate has the same features as the previous model; the name New Semi Renky is engraved behind the accessory shoe and a RENGO KOKI logo is inscribed at the left of the viewfinder together with the serial number. A red arrow is engraved near the advance knob to indicate the film advance direction. The back is removed together with the bottom plate for film loading, and there is a tripod screw surrounded by a locking key in the middle of the bottom. There are two red windows near the bottom of the back, protected by an internal common cover actuated by a vertically sliding lever. The lens name is surely Tenobder Anastigmat on all the models. The Tenobder 75/4.5 lens has three elements and was made by Suzuki; it was certainly also the case of the f/3.5 lens. , lens item Lc18. (They were probably identical to the Well lenses mounted on the Well Standard and Well Super.) Advertisements The late 1940 official price list cited above mentions the "New Semi Renky I" (¥62), "New Semi Renky II" (¥74), "New Semi Renky III" (¥85) and "New Semi Renky U" (¥98), with no further detail. , type 3, section 3A, 4A, 5A, 7A. In the March 1941 advertisement mentioned above for the Semi Renky, Advertisement published in , reproduced in , p.104. the New Semi Renky was offered in the same four versions: * New Semi Renky I: f/4.5 lens, T, B, 25–150 speeds ( ); * New Semi Renky II: f/4.5 lens, T, B, 5–200 speeds ( ); * New Semi Renky III: f/3.5 lens, T, B, 5–200 speeds ( ); * New Semi Renky U: f/3.5 lens, T, B, 1–200 speeds ( ). The 25–150 shutter is certainly the same as mounted on the Semi Renky. The 5–200 shutter (shown in the advertising picture) seems to be everset, the 1–200 is surely not. In an advertisement published in the August 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku, Advertisement reproduced at Gochamaze. the first version was offered alone for the same price, with no mention of a model number, and the lens name was given as Tenobder Anastigmat. Versions called New Semi Renky UI and UII were mentioned in the official price list dated November 1941. , type 3, sections 4B and 7B. The New Semi Renky was still listed in the government inquiry compiled in April 1943. Two versions are mentioned by the document, both with a Tenobder 75/4.5 lens. One has a "Semi Renky" shutter (25–150, T, B) and the other has a YSK shutter (5–200, T, B) made by Rengō. They correspond to the New Semi Renky I and II. Variations Different marking styles have been observed on the base of the telescopic tube and on the shutter plate. No two identical examples have been observed so far. These variations are summarized in the following table: Notes Bibliography * Items 321–2. * Type 3, sections 1, 4A, 7B. * Items 73–4. * Type 3, sections 1, 3A, 4A, 5A, 7A. * P.819. * Advertisement on p.52, corresponding to p.18 of the December 15, 1939 issue. * Item 4064. Links In Japanese: * Semi Renky at Japan Family Camera (pictures only) * Advertisement for the New Semi Renky published in the August 1941 issue of Gakusei no Kagaku, reproduced in the 120 film camera page of the Gochamaze website In Chinese: * New Semi Renky in a post at www.chinesecamera.net Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder Category: Bakelite Category: S Renky, Semi Category: 1939